Two Chongqing Residents’ Appeals Against Wrongful Sentences for Practicing Falun Gong Rejected

(Minghui.org) Two Chongqing residents were sentenced for their faith in Falun Gong and both of them saw their appeals rejected recently.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

The first instance court, Jiangbei District Court, announced the Chongqing City No.1 Intermediate Court’s decisions to uphold Ms. Fu Zhongbi and Mr. Chen Mingxi’s sentences on March 28 and 29, 2022, respectively.

Due to local outbreaks of COVID-19 cases, Jiangbei District Court didn’t allow the two practitioners to come inside, and instead had a clerk deliver the verdicts to them at the entrance of the courthouse. Both practitioners filed another appeal with the Chongqing High Court on April 2.

Mr. Chen, 52, was arrested at home on June 8, 2021. He was tried on December 23, 2021 and sentenced to four years with a 13,000-yuan fine on February 18, 2022. Prior to his latest sentencing, he served two labor camp terms for a total of three years and was tortured into disability during the first term. His wife, Ms. Wang Xiaoxia, died on October 22, 2015, following a court hearing of her shared faith in Falun Gong.

Ms. Fu, 75, was tried on October 19, 2021. It’s not clear when she was arrested and how long her prison sentence is. Earlier that year in May, the authorities ordered Ms. Fu’s son to take her to a brainwashing center for “further education.” It’s not clear whether he complied.

Ms. Fu was previously arrested on August 27, 2014, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. After a year at the Yubei District Detention Center, she was secretly tried by the Yubei District Court on July 13, 2015 and sentenced to three years with four years probation.

Perpetrators’ of the intermediate court:
Ouyang Yan (欧阳艳), presiding judgeXie Yi (谢懿), judgeLi Ying (李颖), judgeXia Yujie (夏玉杰), judge’s assistantChen Jiayu (陈佳宇), clerk

Related report:

Single Father Sentenced to Four Years in Prison, Wife Died Seven Years Ago, Both Persecuted for Their Faith in Falun Gong